For Whom the Bell Tolls
by Chiwizard
Summary: ABANDONED
1. Part One

Ta da! My very first Star Fox fic! I'm so happy!  
I don't own Star Fox (too bad, I love Falco!) or Zelda.  
This isn't a crossover, but there are things from there in here.  
Whatever I make up is mine. MINE!  
This idea has been floating around in my head for a while, so here goes!  
  
  
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"Here ya're, Annie. One Gin and Tonic, on the rocks." The avian bartender handed the drink to his customer. Her blond fur shown in the lamplight in one of Corneria's secluded pubs. "Thank you," Annie said as she paid him. She downed her drink quickly and left. Not much entertainment was left in the ruined capital city of Corneria. It had been a few months since Andross's army had attacked, only to be wiped out by the Star Fox Team. Annie's muzzle held a brief smirk. Jamie's son was turning out to be the piloting equal of his father. Her tails waved in the breeze as she remembered the last time she had spoken with Jamie. It had been right before that fateful mission where Pigma betrayed him and Jamie had been captured. Everyone in Lylat assumed James McCloud had been executed, most likely brutally, but Annie's never-failing instincts told different. She trusted them - after all, if a Keaton couldn't trust her instincts, what could she trust? Keatons were rare in this day and age. They resembled blond foxes, but had three tails. They were viewed with caution, for in the past the Keaton race held the gift of prophecy. Whether that power was truly gone or not no one knew. But Annie was true to her species, clever and mischievous. Her attention was drawn to the announcement board. There, General Pepper was informing everyone of an unbelievably beautiful fact. Andross was dead and his empire gone forever! Annie could see the crowds cheering. Her communicator beeped, as she knew it would. "Ann here." "Theta here. We've picked up the signal on Venom." "Can you confirm?" "Confirmed. It's him." "Send him the package. He'll hold out until we get there." Annie closed the line and went to the port. She had a meeting with Pepper.  
  
  
  
  
"So, what now? Do we go on vacation?" Falco sprawled lazily on the couch in the rec room and watched his boss. Fox smirked a bit. "I thought we'd explore outside of Lylat a bit." "Not cut out for being a celebrity, eh Fox?" They laughed before each fell into their own thoughts. Fox kept flashing back to his escape from Andross's underground citadel. There'd been a massive detonation, and he thought he'd bought the farm. Then that ship appeared…Fox wasn't sure what really happened, but he had followed his Father's ship out of the winding maze of tunnels. Then, the explosion had propelled his Arwing out of the atmosphere wildly, and he lost sight of the other ship. Fox shook his head. Falco watched with friendly concern. Ever since Venom, Fox had been acting very strangely. As soon as Fox had regained control and rejoined his wing mates, Falco had seen Fox craning his neck, trying to find something. He had been treated for that blast of radiation he got from the thermonuclear explosion but he still acted funny. Falco had refrained from commenting on it. And now they were parsecs away from Lylat, approaching a new system. The intercom beeped. "Hey guys, Slip's finished. Come and see what he did to your Arwings." "This better be good," Falco growled into the mike before he and Fox made their way to the hanger. "You okay, Fox?" "Yeah, I'm fine." They went in, to see a mess of parts and equipment. Peppy waved them over to where Slippy was putting on the final touches. "Ta-da! The upgrades are completed!" "Upgrades?" "Uh-huh. Say hello to the new and improved Arwing! Now they all have the hyper laser, doubled capacity for bombs, and are faster and more maneuverable. Plus, I've increased the shielding!" "Very nice," Falco walked around his Arwing making appreciative noises. "We can take them for a test fight when we get in-system," Fox said.  
  
  
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So, what did you think?  
Please tell me, I live for feedback!  
R & R! 


	2. Part Two

The second chapter is up!  
And guess what i'm going to do to the poor guys! Ah, forget it you'll never guess.  
Just read the fic and find out!  
PS I do not own Star Fox or things taken from other legit games and such.  
PPS "0" is talking, '0' is thinking, and _0_ is underlining  
  
  
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They entered the system and ROB parked Great Fox in orbit around one of the outer, deserted planets as the entire team took their Arwings out. "This thing is faster!" Falco laughed and flew right in front of Peppy's ship. "Watch where you're flying!" He yelled. Fox did a few barrel rolls and loops. "This is excellent, Slippy." Slippy was making embarrassed noises over the comm. "Aw shucks, you guys…" "Race ya to the planet!" They all shot off in a spontaneous drag race. Fox and Falco fought for the front, and at the last minute Peppy zipped by to win. "That's what you boys get for not watching your backs!" He laughed as the four of them entered a lazy orbit. "What system are we in, anyway?" ROB's voice cut in over the comm. "This is the Kelspa System. Binary suns, ten planets, two spatial anomalies." "What's this planet?" "Records show this as Banyu. M-class, nitrogen-methane atmosphere. Uninhabited." They were just turning to go back to Great Fox when Slippy's voice sounded over the comm. "ROB, are you certain this planet's empty? Cause I'm getting multiple contacts over here." They faced the planet, and saw three large cylindrical ships coming in around it. "Warning. Hostile ships approaching. Warning." One of the ships moved between the Arwings and Great Fox. "Looks like we get to test these babies in combat!" The enemy ships released a cloud of fighters each. "All Range Mode!" They engaged the enemy, lasers firing.  
  
  
  
  
It was sheer chaos! There were maybe forty enemy fighters for each Arwing. But what made the whole thing really odd was the kind of fighters they fought. "These are all Invader One's! Watch your backs!" Fox looped and took out the Invaders trying to get him from behind. They seemed to be doing well, the improved Arwings proving more than adequate. Even Slippy was doing pretty well, for Slippy. "Get these guys off me!" Peppy blasted the two Invaders on Slippy's tail. They had finished off most of the Invaders when one of the capital ships released a new wave. This group was a new version of Invader that only Slippy recognized from captured development plans from Venom. "Guys, these things are Invader _Four's_! They're better than the Two's and Three's combined!" The single dogfights switched into a massive free-for-all. For some reason, the new Invaders were especially heavy on Fox. Fox bit down a curse as his port stabilizer took a hit. The only reason he still had both wings was from Slippy's modifications. "Fall back!" Star Fox broke from their various engagements and tried to get past the enemy capital ship. That's when it opened fire. Fox was still trying to shake an Invader off his tail when an unlucky shot blew his port wing clear off. And his tail took that opportunity to blast him right in the G-Defuser. The explosion slammed Fox face-first into his own control panel. "FOX!" Slippy was screaming over the comm. The engines were gone, and Fox was left dazed and drifting towards the planet. All he had left was his laser and one bomb. Ignoring anything else, Fox shot the bomb into the thick of the Invaders, taking out a dozen. "Fox! Come in Fox!" Fox saw Peppy and the others coming back, and he also saw the other, smaller ship. It was covered with robotic arms and was using them to grab his Arwing. It used a pulse to knock his laser offline. Fox worked his comm controls furiously. "Guys, get out of here!" "But Fox-" "That's an _order_. Getting yourselves killed won't help anything! Move it!" As they reluctantly peeled off, Fox tried to send a coded message burst before the probe grappling with his ship knocked the rest of his systems out. He sat in his cockpit and watched helplessly as the probe dragged his unresponsive ship into the nearest enemy capital ship.  
  
  
  
  
"Get me General Pepper. It's urgent." Peppy waited as the secretary patched him through. When he appeared, General Pepper seemed confused by Peppy's expression and appearance. "Peppy? What happened? You look like you haven't slept in days." "I haven't. General, I have a lot of bad news." General Pepper's expression changed from confusion to horror, and then grief and disbelief as Peppy told him the news. "Dear God…He's dead?" "No, captured. But that was three or four days ago, so I can't confirm anything…" Peppy rubbed his sleepy, tearing eyes. "We plan to go in to find him once repairs are complete. And it gets worse." "How much worse could it get?" General Pepper said the last part rather sarcastically. "Much. Since none of us has been sleeping well, we've been analyzing the data on those ships and the Invaders." With a push of a button, Peppy sent Pepper the data and results. Pepper was speechless. "This explains a lot," Peppy said. "It explains how Andross could build his forces that quickly without any of the right material on Venom. He was _working_ for them." Pepper seemed to regain his composure. "Fine. Now, you and the remaining Star Fox Team are going in? I'm going to send in a special investigator." "An independent agent?" "Yes, and for security I'm not telling you who it is. Good luck, my friend." General Pepper gave Peppy a quick salute before Peppy signed off. Pepper then opened a communication on a highly encrypted channel. A blond furred female Keaton appeared on the other end. "Holy Tails Pep. Who died?" "I'll explain it when you get here, but it involves McCloud. How soon can you get here?" "Well, I'm making a run for something on Venom, so I'll be there in 24 hours." "Why are you at Venom?" "Lets say it has to do with the other McCloud. You'll see!" She signed off, leaving Pepper with a brand-new confused expression.  
  
  
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Heheheheh, did anyone catch the almost spoiler for a big event?  
It's going to be next chapter, so the more reviews I get the sooner I'll post it.  
*Evil Smirk* So, R&R! 


	3. Part Three

SEE! NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE REVIEWED, SO THIS TOOK A REALLY LONG TIME!  
That'll show you lot for not reviewing.  
I don't own Star Fox (wish I owned Falco - he's a hottie!)  
I DO own the stuff I make up!  
  
  
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Annie took the shuttle down through Venom's unpleasant atmosphere. "Locked on the signal," said the spheroid of metal attached by cables next to her. He was one of her little creations - Beta. She had half a dozen besides him: Alpha, Gamma, Theta, Epsilon, Omicron, and Zeta. They were the latest advancements in AI programming, biosynthetic organisms that were very capable of performing thousands of tasks. 'Andross's stuff's got nothing on mine,' she loved to boast. Beta's voice broke into her thoughts. "Ann, we have visual lock on the Package. An Arwing's next to it; it carries the transponder signal." "Then land this bucket of bolts, Beta." "Aye aye, sir." Annie jumped out of the ship the second Beta opened the hatch. She ran to the Arwing. Sitting on the left wing, looking amused, was a male fox. He wore a plain outfit, and sunglasses. "You! Where have you been! I've been waiting for you for years!" Annie pretended to scold her childhood friend. "And what do you have to say about yourself, James McCloud?" "Sorry, my ship broke?" James McCloud laughed. "Annie, you haven't changed at all!" "Damn straight. And what's this I heard about you saving your son? I think the new leader of Star Fox is capable of rescuing himself." James ruffled her head-fur affably. "How'd you know I was here?" Annie gave him an evil smile as she pried the tracker off his ship. "I put this one on you years ago." "Just as well. My ship can't take vacuum in this shape." Annie called Beta on her comm and told him to load the Arwing. "We need to update it too. I've got a mission with Pepper and you're coming along. He said it has to do with Fox, but I'm guessing not in a good way." James nodded and followed her in the shuttle.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Sir, a Miss Annabelle is here to see you. She also has someone with her, should I let them in?" General Pepper hid his irritation with his new secretary and told him to let them in. Annie walked it, same as ever. And behind her - General Pepper stood up sharply and went very pale. "My God…James?" The friend he'd thought he'd sent to his death gave him a smile. Forgetting military protocol entirely, Pepper went around his table and let his senses confirm what his eyes saw. "James I thought you were dead!" "You never had much faith in my flying skills, Pepper." James laughed like old times as they all sat. "James, why aren't you dead?" "You heard of trans-dimensional transport?" "Yes, Andross used it on the Gorgon Satellite." "Well, he decided to test the prototype on my Arwing. While I was still in it. I've more or less been in suspended animation. But I could see everything that was going on here." James frowned with a unpleasant memory. "How did you escape? I received the report of what Andross did to himself…" "Well, his little thermonuclear death blast ripped open a hole I was able to get back through. But my Arwing was still too damaged to make the trip home, or I would have come back with Great Fox." Pepper was letting this sink in when Annie cleared her throat. "Getting back to the reason we're here…" "Oh, yes." Pepper punched up the data. "Yesterday, Peppy of the Star Fox Team called me with some rather unpleasant news. Three to four days prior, they had been running field tests of their ships when they were attacked by persons unknown at Banyu, in the Kelspa System. They fought Invader class ships, models one and four." "But Andross only made them to model three." "We had recovered plans for a new Invader model, and these match them exactly." Pepper played some of the recorded footage of the battle. "As you can see, Fox's ship was disabled and captured with him on board. Peppy informed me that the Team was going search and rescue as soon as repairs were completed. I want you to assist as an independent agent. For security, I didn't tell Peppy who I was sending. James, since you're here I would like you to go with her." James nodded. "Anything else?" "Well, this mightmight interest you. Look at these results we've gotten from processing the data from the battle." James stood. "No. Way." "An exact match from Venom. These appear to be some of Andross's suppliers. I want you to find out exactly how bad this is. Meanwhile, I'll be working on a defense plan for Lylat, just in case." James and Annie nodded.  
  
  
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SEE! SEE! I told you I was going to do something really cool in this chapter!  
I made James McCloud Un-dead! Not to be confused with making him a zombie. Which he ain't.  
Whatever, just R&R! 


	4. Part Four

Okay, it's been long enough. I've just about had it!  
Somebody, anybody - REVIEW! A single review is great, but so are more than one!  
C'mon, tell me whether to kill this or prolong the agony!  
  
PS - I do not own Star Fox  
  
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Fox wasn't sure where he was. His 'captors' had been moving him from ship to ship repeatedly. He wondered what happened to his Arwing. He thought he had overheard some of these guys talking 'leaving that wreck in orbit', and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Pounding boots announced the arrival of the guy in charge. The crocodile stood in front of the laser bars of Fox's cell and sneered at him. "So, this is the mighty Star Fox! My Master wants to talk with you." The guards shut down the cell and lead the still stun-cuffed Fox down corridors and into a room with a large view screen. Fox was certain that in his place, Falco would be making a remark about whether there was cable. The croc stood in front of the screen as it activated. "My Emperor," he said with reverence as he sank onto one knee. Fox couldn't really see what the croc was addressing. Whatever it was, it was being back lighted so brightly that it's features were masked. It spoke in a quiet but compelling voice. "Admiral Hazoc. You have him?" "Yes, my liege. Bring him forward!" Fox was dragged to a spot next to Hazoc. "Ah, the son of James McCloud. You will not have heard of me before now, but I certainly know you. You lead the force that destroyed the works of my servant Andross. I dislike it when my servants are killed. You will find the results of such rash action to be…highly unpleasant." The thing onscreen made a gesture and one of the guards behind Fox hit him with a stun baton in the back of his head, knocking him down and almost out. Fox heard the thing say, "Take that filth and let him rot in the prison on Magus Two." "Yes my liege." As he was roughly dragged out, Fox's head swam and he knew no more.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Scanners indicate a disabled vessel in high orbit of Banyu. ID beacon confirms as Arwing." "Take us closer ROB." ROB used all his piloting skill to get the abandoned vehicle in the repair bay. Slippy shook his head. "This'll take weeks to fix, and that's if I don't end up needing special equipment. Look at the mess the G-defuser's in!" As Slippy poked in the remains of the engine, Falco and Peppy were examining the cockpit. "They didn't touch anything in here, it seems. Just took Fox and dumped it." Peppy downloaded all the data in the ships computer and brought it up on the monitor. "They didn't disable everything," he said thoughtfully. "The scanner picked up a lot." "Hey, check this out." Falco was going over the communication logs. "This was right when they disabled his comm. See, just before here he was telling us to back off…and then there's a coded message burst, nonverbal." "Decrypt it," Peppy ordered as Slippy came by to see what was up. The message was short and to the point. "Using frequency 45 by 78. See personal file WW-47." "Well, what are we waiting for? Pull it up!" They pulled up one of Fox's personal files that was labeled WW-47. In it was a very detailed diagram for something very complex. "Slip, what is this?" Slippy gasped as he read. "I don't believe this! They haven't made these for forty years! And it's in perfect condition!" "Slippy, quit being a dink and tell us what it is!" "These are the specs for one of those old tracers! The 'Hidden Trail' model, no less! It's a special kind of homing device that you can use to mark where you go, and only people who know the frequency can find them. Using those markers, it's easy to get in range of the main tracer. The only reason they stopped making these was that the main tracer's signal was considered too weak to be useful. But that's the genius behind it - it's too weak to be detected by accident! I can't believe Fox got his hands on one of those!" Slippy scrolled to the end of the file. Then he grabbed some tools and scurried to the cockpit of Fox's Arwing. "Here!" His two companions wandered over and peered into the lens Slippy held. Attached to the seat was a tiny robot resembling a green and black bug. Slippy used his palm pilot to access it on frequency 45 by 78. "Next bug is on frequency 32 by 99. Here's the coordinates!" With a lot more optimism than before, Peppy ran for the intercom.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Do you wiretap people for a hobby, Annie? I'm serious. How many of those things are on Great Fox?" "More than you'll ever know. Forgive me for exercising my curiosity!" Annie giggled. It was a well known fact that all Keatons possessed a maniac curiosity about everything. Annie released her curiosity in a very calm and mature way - by leaving listening devices wherever she went. And she was a master of making undetectable listening devices. James was regretting that tour of Great Fox he had given her. Just as he was struggling for a scathing comeback, Zeta floated up. "Your modifications are complete." "What'd you change? Tell me!" "Just ask Zeta for the new schematic. I'm going for a practice flight." James looked over his Arwing. It glittered in the hanger lights like a brand new toy. James got in and received launch clearance from Gamma. He took it out. It had been too long since he'd really flown. If you didn't count leading your son out of a self-destructing underground building as flying…James sighed. He hadn't followed Fox up because his ship could never have taken that. But he had been close enough to hear a quick conversation over the comm. Peppy : "What's wrong Fox?" Fox: "…Nothing…nothing's wrong." James hoped his son didn't think he was a radiation-induced hallucination. His thoughts were interrupted by Theta on his comm. "James, Ann wishes to speak with you." "Put her through." "Jamie, Great Fox is heading to Fraulen, but I want to go to Sector G-prime. Where are you going?" "Stupid question. If I want any real info I'll have to stick with you. I'm landing now." James flicked the switch and took his Arwing in.  
  
  
  
  
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I mean it - ask me questions, flame me, I don't care, just REVIEW MY STUPID FIC! 


	5. Part Five

Here is the next chapter! (At long last)  
  
A thousand pardons for the rather..._extreme_... delay, but here's a big chapter to make it all up to ya!  
  
*I don't own Star Fox*  
  
Enjoy!  
  
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"Well, the repairs are going okay, and according to our current marker there's just one left between us and the tracker. Haven't seen too much trouble, but this whole 'hidden empire' thing was kind of a downer. Actually, we haven't seen anyone from Lylat at all. You sent your investigator, right?"  
  
Peppy eyed General Pepper on his screen.  
  
"Yes I sent the investigator. Don't worry, I'm keeping both of you informed. In fact I have a report telling me to warn you about your next stop. Talos isn't a good place to hang around, apparently."  
  
"How do they know we're going to Talos? I hadn't even mentioned it to _you_ yet."  
  
"According to this, the answer to your question is 'Trade Secret'."  
  
General Pepper shrugged helplessly.  
  
"Sorry, but my agent happens to possess a unique sense of humor. I imagine if you run into problems, they'll be on hand to assist."  
  
Pepper closed the line after that. Peppy shook his head as he walked to the cockpit where Falco and Slippy were waiting.  
  
"Okay, I just got a heads-up. We've been warned that Talos is most likely going to be dangerous, so I would not like to lose anyone else."  
  
They got into their Arwings as Great Fox reached Talos.  
  
"We are locked onto Marker One's position," ROB's voice buzzed over the comm system, "Hostile ships approaching. Registered as drones, Invader Three type."  
  
They launched. There was a _lot_ of ships.  
  
"ROB, retrieve Marker One but be prepared to assist. All Range Mode!"  
  
They extended their wings to full length and dove into combat. As they fought, a pair of eyes watched from above.  
  
"If they need me…" their owner said to himself.  
  
ROB was able to secure the final Marker. But as he turned Great Fox back to the battle, a robot missile exited warp and hit the ship.  
  
Or it tried to.  
  
A rather large energy pulse blew it up just before it hit. A silver ship half the size of Great Fox appeared on the monitor.  
  
"Attention Great Fox," came the transmission.  
  
"Do you require assistance?"  
  
Three quarters of the Invader Threes had been destroyed. The remaining fighters were the worst, and Peppy felt his ship bounce after a hit.  
  
He couldn't get this one off his tail! Falco and Slippy were in similar situations. Peppy thought he was going to be a goner when a pair of blue lasers shot from above and removed the tail permanently.  
  
Peppy craned his head just in time to see another ship blow right past him and take on the rest of the Invader Threes.  
  
"Nah, couldn't be…"  
  
The newcomer was an Arwing, and he flew like he'd been born in it. Peppy took out two more fighters before they decided to retreat.  
  
That wasn't going to be an option.  
  
The new Arwing iced them all. Peppy saw Slippy and Falco form up on either side of him.  
  
"Arwing, identify yourself," Peppy called over the comm.  
  
The pilot was the _last_ person he could ever have anticipated.  
  
"Hey there Peppy, long time no see," said James McCloud.  
  
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R&R please! 


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